Roast Chicken-why do I have such problems?

For such a 'simple' dish, why do I have such difficulties making a roast chicken? For one, the cooking time is never what the cookbooks call for. And second, not to mention most importantly, I can never achieve a browned, crispy skin. The only constants are as follows: a 4 1/2 - 5 lb bird and I always use a roasting pan with the bird on a V-shaped rack. Outside of that, I've tried various methods/recipes: Joy of Cooking, Mark Bittman's, Martha Stewart-you name it, I've done it. What am I doing wrong??? Please help!

I usually use a 3.5-4.5 bird. Others like to brine the bird (Sam knows his stuff) but I am not in that camp.

I use a 425 degree oven, that is fully pre-heated. I do not use any fancy racks, pans, Zuni's, nothing. I take a simple sided baking sheet. Layer a sheet of aluminum foil on it. Place the pieces skin side up. Sprinkle with whateve spices feel right that night. Place into the fully pre-heated oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes I turn it from bake to convection bake for another ten minutes. Perfect every time. Crispy outside and moist inside. If you do not have convection, it may take a few more minutes to get the crsipy look.

I get great results by drizzling the chicken with olive oil - chicken cooking on a rack with all the oil/chicken juice gathering in the pan - the better to put on Devil Chow's kibble for his dinner (and His Missus too, just loves it). I like high heat as well - 400 deg for a while then down to 350 but Mme Zoe and I like our bird well done.

To get crispy chicken skin, I never use a rack, BUT I use a cookie sheet with a very small lip, just enough to catch drippings. You need to make sure your pan isn't too deep otherwise the skin won't get crisp. I also start my chicken on it's back for half the cooking time, and turn breast side up to finish. I don't baste with butter, I rub a small amount of olive oil. Agree with posters who said, chicken needs to be bone dry in order to crisp up properly. I do admit to having a convection oven, which makes a HUGE difference in helping crisp chicken.